Prison Furlough Abuses1976-77

Following the SCI probe and May 1976 public hearing, a State Grand Jury
indicted in December 1976 a former Trenton State Prison clerk for false
swearing and perjury. These charges related to a forged Superior Court
Appellate Division opinion which was inserted into the record of an
inmate, Patrick Pizuto, enabling him to obtain a premature release from
incarceration. (Pizuto became a federally protected informant in an
unrelated case.) In January 1977, five former inmates of Leesburg Prison
were indicted on charges of escape by means of fraudulent furloughs.
These indictments led to convictions or guilty pleas. The Commissionís
report is contained in the 8th Annual Report.